With military-grade equipment available for the cost of pick-up, police forces have been stocking up. While some of that equipment appears actually to have been used in post-hurricane relief work, most of it is better suited for SWAT raids, intimidating protesters, and killing people.

In this second installment of special coverage Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath, Abby Martin explores how the petrochemical industry dominates the city and why its low-income, Black and Latino areas are in the highest-risk areas for flooding and pollution, earning them the name “sacrifice zones.”
Abby explores Houston’s unique lack

With Hurricane Irma thrashing Florida as this episode goes to publication, we share an interview with Niecee X of the Black Women’s Defense League, which is deeply involved in relief efforts for those in Houston impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
The Defense League has been in the fifth and third ward of the city. They also have

As in other catastrophes, from Superstorm Sandy in October 2012 to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, American Muslims have been counted both as victims and as participants in the recovery.

The gymnasium at the Champions Islamic Center is covered with mats and blankets, donated clothes and boxes of food lining its walls.
On the eve of the Eid al-Adha festival, one of Islam's holiest days, it's become the temporary home for 15 of the thousands of Harvey evacuees, Muslim and non-Muslim. And though it will host

Houston is still struggling to cope with the impact of Hurricane Harvey, as many parts of the city are still under water. But the worst damage done by the storm may be yet to come, as receding floodwaters have revealed widespread chemical contamination stemming from the city’s petrochemical plants.

As the “apocalyptic” floodwaters in Houston and other parts of east Texas have been rising thanks to Hurricane Harvey, media attention has been largely focused on the immediate human impact, such as displacement

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Whitney Webb

Whitney Webb is a writer and researcher for The Last American Vagabond and a MintPress News contributor and former staff writer. She has contributed to several independent media outlets and her work has been featured by The Real News Network, The Ron Paul Institute, The Zero Hour, and The Jimmy Dore Show, among others. She has made several radio and television appearances and is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism.

The Houston Police Department has ended its longstanding practice of using $2 chemical kits to make drugs arrests, a policy that had contributed to hundreds of wrongful convictions in recent years.
In announcing the change, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the department was abandoning the use of the kits, known formally as chemical field

The Houston City Council voted 10–6 Wednesday morning to join a growing lawsuit against Senate Bill 4, an immigration enforcement law that allows peace officers to question the immigration status of people they legally detain.